RE: Ways EPA can partner with local government?

[Emily Wilson <Emily_Wilson@doh.state.fl.us>]

Eileen Ringnalda gives a listing of the local authorities who should be notified when EPA is doing work at a Superfund site.  Please do not forget the County Health Officer at the local county health department.  It is inevitable that health concerns will play a major role in addressing the action plan for the site.  My experience is that out of the 5 liner feet of library shelf containing information about our one Superfund site here- that the pages with health inforamtion were the most worn.  Not a meeting goes by without someone mentioning that they are worried about health affects from the contaminants.

A phonecall to the County Health Officer (CHO) would go a long way to avoid the tension that can develop when the CHO is notified in the general media regarding an EPA meeting in town.

I realize that public health is not the only player and I sympathize with the daunting task EPA has when they come in from out of town to deal with a very emotional subject.  Our community is overwhelmed with the amount of time that it has taken to come to the discussion about fixing the problem- like two decades.  Who, amongst the volunteer community members who dedicate their time to being a part of the process, can be expected to stay in the information loop that long?